Vehicle attachment.



N 7 9,554. PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904 A. OBITZ. VEHICLE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.7,1903

NO MODEL.

lizeaaea 6 jZ//ZEI Patented September 6, 1904.

NITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

ANDREXV OBITZ, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

VEHICLE ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,564, datedSeptember 6, 1904.

Application filed November '7, 1903. Serial No. 180,198. (No model.)

To all whom, 77mg concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW OBITZ, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVehicle Attachments, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in vehicleattachments; and it relates specifically to a device adapted to beattached to a wagon for assisting the rear wheels thereof to turn out ofengagement with the rails of a car-track.

.ln the turning of a wagon from off the cartracks it is a comparativelyeasy matter to cause the front wheels to leave the rails by reason ofthe angle to which the wheels are moved with respect to the rail byturning the team from ofi: the track; but this is not true of the rearwheels of the wagon, which have a tendency to slide on the rails untilsuch time as the angle of the vehicle with respect to the rails is suchto prevent further sliding of the rear wheels and cause them to ride upover the rail-tread.

It is the object of my invention to provide novel and effective meansfor engagement underneath the rear wheels of the vehicle to cause saidwheels to pass readily up over the rail-tread without sliding on theedge thereof, as is ordinarily the case.

Briefly described, the invention comprises a shoe carried on an armsuspended from the rear axle, one of these shoes being provided for eachrear wheel. Means is provided for holding the shoe and arm normallysuspended in the inoperative position, and means is provided wherebywhen the shoe is dropped into the operative position and the wheelpasses over the same the said shoe will be carried around by the wheelduring the revolution of the latter and be deposited on its supportingmeans ready for the next operation.

The construction involved will be hereinafter more specificallydescribed in detail and then particularly claimed, and in describing theinvention in detail reference is had to the this application, andwherein like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout theseveral views, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a wagon-framehaving my improved device attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof a part of a wagon equipped with my device. Fig. 3 is a detacheddetail perspective view of the form of brakelever and suspension-plate.Fig. 1 is a detached detail perspective view of one of the carrying-pinsconnected to the spokes of the wheel. Fig. 5 is a plan View of a part ofthe axle, showing the cam-disk in horizontal section. Fig. 6 is adetached detail perspective view of the arm and shoe, both partly brokenaway. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of one of the cam-disks with the armin cross-section.

To put my invention into practice, 1 provide on the rear axle 1 justback of the spindles 2 a cam-disk 3, which is mounted on the axle andfirmly secured in any desirable manner, as by angle-brackets el, asshown. Rotatable on the spindles 2 or on the rounded portion of the axlejust back of the spindle, as may be desired, is a ring 5, the ends 6 ofwhich receive between them the one end of the arm 7, fastened by meansof a bolt 8 and nut. This arm 7 carries at its lower end a shoe 9, whichmay be suitably secured thereto or may be an integral part of the arm,as may be desired, and is preferably corrugated or notched, as shown at10, in order to be more receptive to readily remain on the rail inposition to receive the tire of the wheel. The arm carries a guide 11,which extends back of the camdisk 3, the latter being received betweenthe guide-arm 11 and the arm '7. here the vehicle upon which the deviceis is of a form cmploying a brake-beam 12, the shoe 9 and arm 7 will besupported by the brake-beam, as seen in Fig. 1, the brake-beam beingpreferably pivoted at its center in order that either half thereof maybe moved whereby to drop either one of the devices, as may be desired,onto the rail. \Vhere no brake-beam is employed on the vehicle, thebrake-lever 14, which carries the brake-shoe 15, may have on its angularportion a supporting-plate 16, upon which the shoe 9 is adapted to rest.7 hen the lever 1% accompanying drawings, forming a part of l orbrake-beam is moved forward so as to re- 'move the support for the arm,and thus allow the shoe to fall into engagement with the rail in frontof the wheel, as seen in Fig. 2, the wheel will ride up on the shoe andbe elevated, whereby to permit its ready turning off of the rail uponwhich it was traveling. In order to bring the device again into itsnormal position and ready for another operation, I provide on the spokesof the wheels carrying pins 17 which I preferably attach to the spokesby the construction herein shown, that of providing the clips 18 toembrace the spoke 19 and secured to the spoke by means of a bolt orrivet passing through the clip and through the spoke. In the presentillustration I have shown one of these pins attached to each spoke ofthe wheel, and this construction is preferable, for the reason that thearm may be picked up by the pin immediately upon said shoe passing outof engagement with the wheel without necessitating the turning of thewheel until such time as the pin would come in engagement with the armin event only one pin was used. The purpose of the cam-disk 3 is to movethe arm 7 laterally as it comes to its rest or normal position,

so as to permit of the carrying-pin 17 passing the arm without strikingthe same when the said arm is in its raised position.

I generally make the opening in the disk 3 of considerable diameter andprovide the disk with slots 3, through which the bolts a, that securethe disk to brackets 4c, are passed, and also slot the brackets. Thisconstruction permits of securing the disk to different-sized axleswithout necessitating a different disk for each size of axle.

As either of the arms 7 are dropped they are moved toward the wheel bythe outwardlybent portion of the disk 3, so as to lie in the path of thepins. Thus after the shoe 9 has cleared the wheel, or, in other words,the wheel has passed over the same, the arm will be carried upwardlyuntil the unbent or flared portion 3 of the disk is encountered, atwhich point, the arm having passed over its pivotal point, it is movedout of engagement with the pins, and thus allowed to drop by gravity tothe pdsition indicated in Fig. 1.

It will be obvious that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from the general spirit of my invention.0

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with the rearaxle, of a ring rotatably mounted thereon, an arm carried by said ring,a shoe at the outer end of said arm, a guide-arm carried by thefirst-mentioned arm, a cam-disk on the axle to be received between thearm and the guide-arm for moving said arm laterally, means carried onthe wheelspokes for engagement with the arm after the shoe has clearedthe wheel, and means for supporting the arm and shoe normally in theinoperative position, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, an arm rotatably mounted onthe rear axle, a shoe carried by said arm at its outer end, a guide-armcarried by the first-mentioned arm, a cam disk received between the armand guide-arm, a cam mounted on the axle and received between the armand guide-arm, carrying means secured on the spokes and adapted to pickup the arm after the shoe has passed out of engagement with the wheel,and means for normally supporting the arm and shoe in the inoperativeposit-ion, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

ANDREW .OBITZ.

Witnesses:

A. M. WILSON, E. E. POTTER.

